Visions From the Shadows: 2nd Vision of Escaflowne
by BLACKANGEL32076
Summary: 3 12 years after the series, Van and Hitomi are reunited, just in time to save the post war peace.
1. Default Chapter

Visions From the Shadows-A Second Vision of Escaflowne  
  
Disclaimer: I do no own the rights to Vision of Escaflowne. The story you right is posted for pleasure and, not now or ever, profit. Enjoy!  
  
Prolog  
  
'Ugh, my neck. By the Gods it hurts. Hang on now, I'm alive. How can this be? The last thing I remember is two very strong hands around my neck and the life being strangled out of me. The stupid fool assassin must have not bothered to check for a pulse. Thank the Gods that he was rushed, stupid or forgetful. Wait a minute, the last thing I remember was fighting Van Fanel in that thrice-damned guymelef of his. He somehow discovered where I was and destroyed mine. I was injured and ran to seek shelter. Then the hands.'  
'WAIT A MINUTE!!!' He thought, his eyes still closed with the discipline of the solider that he was. 'If that's the case I'm still in Freid! I've got to figure how to get out of wherever in the name of damnation I am. Then, I need to get back aboard the Vione.'  
  
Rafal was pissed off. He didn't see what the hell he did to deserve this kind of duty? According to his platoon leader, he'd run up too high a tab and owed too my debts at the local taverns, but so what! He and other solders in the Freidian Army had done the same. Sure, he was the last one to pay them off before Zaibach stormed in and all the powers of Damnation itself broke loose. It wasn't like he wasn't going to pay the greedy old buzzards back, but how could he if there was a war going on around his ears. Okay, they were old debts that should've been paid off long ago, but that were never a problem in the past. Then that runt Chid ascended to the throne after his father, the Duke had gloriously died in battle, a martyr to the war. Almost right away after the Zaibachs left, he started changing things, little things, that he guessed were supposed to make himself look good to the people who thought that the Dukedom would be ruled by his advisors, as opposed to him.  
One of those things was demanding that all his troops pay any and all debts that were owed to the merchants. This was a result of those troops who had died in the Battle of Fortuna Temple who had no money and no heirs left big debts in the wake. Chid were good enough to pay them off out of the Royal Treasury, but when he demanded his troops pay off all debts by the end of every month. Rafal was the only poor bastard left big debts and no money to pay them until next month. Chid himself had told Rafal's platoon leader that the Royal Treasury would pay off the debt, but only after he was assigned to extra guard duty for the rest of the month until next pay day. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but after over two weeks, a month after the final battle against Zaibach, this nonsense was starting to grate on him. Here he was a veteran squad leader, having to stand guard duty like some come rookie foot solider, and in front of the healer's recovery section no less! Supposedly, the patient he was guarding was someone important to Zaibach during the war. One of those "Dragonslayers" that psychotic bastard Albatou commanded. They had found him around the time the "Real Duke", as Rafal liked to call him, had returned just in time to be thrown in the firestorm that was the Battle of Fortuna Temple, having almost been strangle to death. The only way anyone knew who he was the Zaibach armor he wore. They should've let the Son of a Bitch die after all the death, destructiveness, and lost friends and family members they caused! The problem was that the war was over and this guy was in a coma on top of everything else!! What the in the name of the Underworld was he going to do, sleepwalk his way into Duke Chid's chambers and assassinate him? He could understand Chid wanting to interrogate him later, but if he doesn't wake up, then what?  
In the end, Rafal decided that he was just being made an example and just deal with it. The tavern keeper would get theirs when troops who didn't have cash at the time would just stay home as opposed to running up a tab and pay it in full later. Money was money, and whether they got it now or later the stupid old fools would be getting a lot less of it in the future. Maybe when they.  
  
*CRASH*  
  
'What in the name of Atlantis was THAT!?!' Rafal thought as he turned into the recovery quarters.  
When he looked inside, his jaw would've hit the floor if it could at what he saw. The comatose Zaibach POW was gone and the thin wooden grating over the window had been smashed. He looked out the window, but his charge had escaped in the peak of shopping hour at the bazaar. The crowd had simply swallowed him up. As Rafal turned to inform the guard commander in the lower levels, he wondered how much extra duty it would take to get out of THIS mess! 


	2. The Royal Sisters of Austria

Chapter 1: The Royal Sisters of Asturia  
  
Queen Eries of Asturia gently caressed the face of her son as she finished adjusting the little outfit that she'd just dressed him in. The Royal Nanny would always tell her that she, as a Queen, didn't need to do such things with a nanny on staff. However, motherhood taught her that some things are more important than keeping up appearances. She always found the proof of this in her little boy's cooing smile. As she bundled him up to take him to his father, of whom he was the spitting image, she couldn't help but muse at the circumstances which made her both a wife, mother, and queen.  
It was two weeks after that strange girl from the Mystic Moon who was King Van's traveling partner during that horrible war, what was her name, went back home. She couldn't stop thinking about him. He was so much more than what people saw. She'd remembered all the hushed talk behind Prime Minister Midin's back about his son. "How could the richest man of his generation in maybe all of Gaia dress like a vagabond hermit?" They didn't know the man that she'd come to know when that Mystic Moon girl tricked Millerna into marrying Dryden.  
  
-The man who'd spent 5 years profits to save the life of one man, regardless whether or not he was a king, when just about everyone she knew in the Austrian Royal court would've let young Van die than spend a penny to save him, much less 50 million Gidaru.  
  
-The man who made a name for himself as a man of noble heart by his benevolence and his philanthropy, rather than shedding blood in the name of "honor" and "chivalry" for the sake of their titles.  
  
-The man who'd rather prove himself to Millerna, by his actions, as a man worth being her husband rather than forcing her to stay in a loveless marriage.  
  
Eries Aston was in love with Dryden Fassa, and she couldn't care less what those around her thought of him. Those fools in the Royal court thought that she wouldn't get married because of some sort of unrequited love for that irresponsible playboy ex-bandit who impregnated her older sister in a night of mindless passion, Allen Schezar of all people. She simply wouldn't get married because she promised herself that she would marry for love, not titles. When she made that perfectly clear to her Father, she was "punished" by having the line of succession go to her younger sister rather than to her. How little they thought of her to think that it would break her spirits. At that point, she decided to watch over her immature younger sister, Millerna as the mother she hadn't had since their mother had died. When Allen had re-entered their lives, she was there, keeping a close eye on him. Much later, she learned that Allen's reputation was ill earned, and that he really and truly loved Marlene as much as her older sister loved him. She even went as far as offering to keep an eye on his long lost sister Celena, (only to have the girl turn into to homicidal, pyromaniac psychotic, Dilandau in front of her). He wasn't a bad man, Eries decided, she just wished he'd been more cautious of Marlene's future.  
She couldn't stand it any more. Dryden was just the kind of man she'd been waiting for her whole lonely life. Smart, kind, giving, handsome, he was more of a noble than the nobles she'd been forced to spend her life associating with, (how in the name of the Sea Dragon Goddess he could be the son of that pervert Prime Minister of her Father's is anyone's guess). It was time to act before Dryden began to pine away too much for Millerna. Let the silly little girl have her longhaired swordsman. SHE was going after a truly noble man.  
After finally intercepting Dryden's convoy, she invited herself on- board to "find out more about those countries that Asuria traded with from a trader's point of view." While she learned, she courted Dryden relentlessly. Dryden in turn admired her drive. She was a woman who went after what she wanted when she found out what it was. Over the time, admiration turned into friendship, and later friendship into love. After six months, each had thought they had hooked the other to ask for their hand in marriage. She was relieved that her plans and efforts had finally borne fruit. There was only one problem, Eries's father, King Aston.  
It wasn't that Eries hated her Father, but she had little reason to trust him, may the Great Sea Dragon forgive her. She knew that everything her Father did was just another step in his continued, lifelong efforts to keep himself on the throne, regardless how much unhappiness was left in his wake. Keeping this in mind, the one thing on her side was the fact that he had approved of Dryden marring Millerna, so he shouldn't have a problem with her doing the same.  
The results were better than she expected. King Aston was overjoyed by this announcement! He had never fully recovered from the stroke that had put him in a wheelchair during Dryden and Millerna's wedding and was concerned that he would pass on from this world without knowing that Asturia was in good hands. To make matters worse, at least in his eyes, was that Millerna, next in line to the throne since Eries announced that she wouldn't marry anyone she didn't love, was secretly dating Allen Schezar. He also knew that doing anything to him, especially assassination would only cause Millerina to act against him at a time when he needed allies, not enemies within his Royal Court, especially amongst his own blood. On the other hand, the idea of Sir Allen becoming KING Allen was something that made killing him off, one way or another, VERY palatable to the sick and aging monarch.  
Eries and Dryden's announcement solved all of his problems at once. As a wedding gift, he announced that the day after the ceremony, the line of succession would be restored to Eries and she and Dryden would become King and Queen upon his death. Millerna was, at first, a little put off by this sudden turn of her fortune, but decided that it was a blessing in disguise. Now, she was free to love whomever she wanted and continue her medical studies without her training to become a future Queen getting in the way for the immediate future. Two months after the announcement, they were married in a ceremony almost identical to the one that Millerna and Dryden had 8 1/2 months earlier, the biggest difference being the bride in question. They left for their month- long honeymoon and the next day. A week after their return, as if right on cue, King Aston died in his sleep, clutching the ring that was the symbol of his reign and smiling as if he was having a wonderful dream. In the end the old man got everything he wanted.  
The good news was that so did everyone else. Eries had ordered 12 months of mourning in which there would be only religious observances and no public celebrations. One month after the one-year anniversary of her father's death, Millerna announced her own engagement to Allen Schezar with the wedding taking place 6 weeks later. It was also around this time that Eries gave birth to her son, the crown prince of Asturia. That was a little over a year ago.  
As she smoothed out the little boy's dark hair which framed his bright blue eyes, she could only wonder how her sister was doing, she like Eries, had wasted now time getting pregnant after she got married. In fact, if her calculations were correct, Millerna would be in her sixth month. "I wonder what your aunt is up to now", she quietly said aloud to the baby in her arms.  
  
'This is all YOUR fault!' Millerna thought to herself as she looked at her wedding showdowgraph and glared at the image of her husband. She then rolled over to her other side and thought to herself, '.and you had nothing to do with it of course.' It wasn't that she hated Allen; she just hated being pregnant. The first three months were a sheer curse of morning sickness and exhaustion. The vomiting subsided by her fourth month and she enjoyed the sensation of feeling the little life in her moving and kicking, only to have the little one do summersaults inside her by the fifth month. Now in her sixth month, she felt as big as a house and was always moody and uncomfortable. As a trained physician, she knew what to expect when her suspicion that she was pregnant was confirmed. She was learning firsthand, however, that there is a big difference between knowing and experiencing.  
'That does it!' Millerna thought. 'I've been lying in bed so long, I will be getting bedsores soon enough!' Having just gotten out of bed, she was still somewhat unsteady, but recovered with the skill and grace of the princess that she was. It was a beautiful day, and she wanted to sit in the garden. Allen, being over protective of the women in his life as he was, wouldn't have liked to see her out of bed without the assistance of at least two ladies-in-waiting, much less, get dressed, leave their bedroom, and stroll out to one of the lush fields of the Schezar estates. However, while his doting nature was just as charming as he always was, being a new father and all, sometimes it was downright annoying! 'I am the same person that I was when I left Asturia to join the Crusade and her crew in their efforts to stop Zaibach from destroying Freid whether my father, may the Sea Dragon rest his soul, and sister liked it or not, and I most certainly, DIDN'T marry Allen only to have him take father's place in dictating my life!' At this point Millerna realized that she was getting worked up over nothing, so much so that her ladies-in-waiting had finished dressing her without her even knowing.  
  
At his she just sighed and left room with her entourage in tow. 


	3. To Atone for Past Sins

Chapter 2: To Atone for Past Sins  
  
Standard disclaimer: I don't own Esca. Don't sue me, I'm broke anyway.  
  
"Austrian military transport approaching Milady!" cried the lookout from her position in the observation tower.  
  
Sir Celena Schezar, Knight of Asturia, and Commander of Fortress Tormenta Pass, nodded, as she looked straight ahead at the oncoming leviship. She knew who it was even before she saw it. The Crusade was past it's prime as a Ship-of-the-Line, but the old girl always looked good to her because of what it represented, both then and now.  
Celena allowed herself a brief recollection of her life as Dilandau Albatou. The years of intense military training and the childhood that was sacrificed as a result, the sense of brotherhood she felt with the Dragonslayers and the anger she felt at their failures and the intense sadness when Jajuka told him that they were slain at the hands of Van Fanel, and the tornado of blood and madness that was the end of the war. It was at this point in time that the two side that she had become, Dilandau and Celena, were reformed with her as the dominate personality. Dilandau Albatou was gone forever, and she was left with the memories of pain and madness that had been his life. It was the Crusade that took her home to the life she'd once had as a little girl before bandits kidnapped her and sold into what they had thought was slavery. It had ended being worse than that as well as death itself.  
It was after that girl from the Mystic Moon that Allen said reminded him of her, what was her name again, went back home that the waves of Dilandau's memories began to hit her like a storm. They always came in her sleep, visions and feeling of anger, hate, pain, and loss of innocence. Finally she finally refused to sleep until exhaustion got the better of her. It was then that the nightmare of Dilandau's life invaded her mind.  
When the Crusade landed, Celena shook herself from her bittersweet daydreams and approached the cargo ramp as it lowered to the ground. Out stepped some of the very same group of rouges-turned-solders-turned-heroes that accompanied her brother on his adventures against Dorkirk, Stratigos Folken, and her Dragonslayers. There were a few new faces that she noticed offloading crates filled with all the goods needed to keep an installation like her fortress running smoothly, but the one face that she looked forward to the most was the one that made her smile inside the brightest.  
Gaddes had been made the Crusade's captain after the old ship had been recommissioned as a courier ship after the war, serving as a link between Palls and the various forts surrounding the kingdom's borders and protecting it's important trade routes as well as providing their supplies. This was how she came to know her brother's former second-in-command. Unlike the other men in she'd come to know in the Austrian Royal Armed Forces, he'd seen her as a peer and an equal, not a potential damsel in distress or a silly little girl "playing" solider, but a fellow warrior and worthy superior. Of course, the other men of the Crusade treated her with respect enough, taking into consideration their private lives and upbringing. However, this was due largely to her rank as a Knight and Fortress Commander or the fact that she was Allen's little sister and they all had nothing but the highest regards for their former Commander. Gaddes on the other hand treated her the same as if she were Allen himself, no better and no worse. She could help be interested in this diamond-in-the- rough of a man amongst men who were making her lose faith in the males of Austria. From there, mutual respect became admiration, admiration became friendship, and friendship became love.  
Shortly after landing, he gave command of the ship to his second-in- command, and the job of offloading the supplies and keeping an accurate tally of the to his Quartermaster. He then went to give the Fortress Commander any official communiqués from Palls. The crew of the Crusade of course knew better when it came to this particular fort. As Gaddes had closed and locked the conference room door behind him, not unusual for official document from Palls meant only for the eyes of any fortress commander, the two practically threw themselves into each other's arms and began to kiss with a passion that could melt a guymelef's iron hide. When the need for air overcame their need for the feel and heat of each other's bodies, they finally, reluctantly, separated. Celena had practically collapsed in Gaddes's arms and against his chest. Gaddes, meanwhile, drowned himself in the sweet smell and softness of his beloved's hair and the skin on her face. He savored the taste of her kiss on his lips, thinking it impossible for even Paradise itself to taste any better.  
  
"I've been away from you too long my noble knight", Celena said.  
  
"I believe I should be saying that, Milady", Gaddes teased. "You're the one with the title", he said with a loving grin.  
  
"You've always been noble enough for a knighthood to me my love, titles be damned", she purred into his chest.  
  
"Then may I call you 'Princess' from now on?" he replied.  
  
"Only if my sisters-in-law permit it", she said with a smirk.  
  
Finally, they sat down in the conference room's chairs and Gaddes handed over the documents form the Capital. With that official duty done, they began to talk about the events of each other's lives since the last they met. Afterwards, she let him read her latest poems. He always thought they were beautiful, however her works as of late had taken an increasingly brighter, happier tone. He remembered her earlier works, having stumbled across them early in their friendship. While they were still as beautiful as she was, they had a dark, mournful tone to them. He also remembered why those early works had such a feel to them. When she told him why, it had been as painful for her to recount as it was for him to remember hearing the tale even now.  
When Dilandau's memories were complete in her mind, her mind was then assaulted by the horror of what he'd done to others in his life. Especially prominent in her mind was the Battle of Fanalia. Battle was battle, and war was war. The wholesale destruction of a kingdom's capital, and the anarchy that followed was something that only a beast or demon would enjoy. Dilandau, for the most part, was indifferent to the destruction of Fanalia's capital. However, from the after action reports and news form survivors that had witnessed the madness, what had happened to her people was a nightmare-making tale all it's own. Women and young girls raped by gangs of roving bandits, young boys kidnapped only to later be sold into slavery, and men who were unsuccessful in defending them forced to watch it all before the life ebbed out of them in a pool of blood. At one point, it was just too much for her.  
At one point, she left the Schezar Estates for Fanalia where she requested an audience with King Van Fanel himself. The handsome young king had been expecting her. Apparently Allen had alerted his former war comrade about her disappearance and asked him to let the Asturian Knight if she turned up in his shattered Capital. Upon explaining both who she was and once was, she practically begged King Van to publicly execute her. It was the only way, she said, she could possibly atone to the people of Fanalia for her past actions. King Van refused, saying something along the lines, she couldn't remember precisely anymore, that the war was over and enough blood had been shed. Her death would be just as needless the rest that Dornkirk's efforts had caused. He wrapped the girl in his cape and took her by the shoulders to one of the guards where she would be taken to one of the royal chambers to rest. She thought he'd understand and he'd let her down. It was apparent that she would have to make King Van understand.  
Ripping the sword from the sheath of the guard that escorted her, she ran like the wind and attacked the King of Fanalia in his own throne room. He had no choice but to draw his own sword and defend himself. She had no intention of harming him, only of making him kill her in self- defense. It would be this way, she quickly rationalized that Fanalia's people would get their justice, and she would be at peace. Using all the skill she remembered form her life as Dilandau, she tried to make it look good, like she was really trying to kill him. King Van, on the other hand, knew the Dragonslayer's squadron leader's fighting style well enough to know that she was in fact holding back. In the end, she simply wasn't in the shape she was in as Dilandau, and he simply wore her out. The last thing she saw was the pommel of Van's sword coming down on her head, knocking her unconscious.  
When she awoke, she did so in the comfortable chambers of the recently rebuilt castle itself. 'Damn it all to the Abyss itself', she thought, 'I'm still alive.' Slowly she eyed her surroundings and saw, much to her surprise, King Van himself, alone. Ruefully, she cast her eyes to the ceiling. "I guess I'm to be executed for the attempted assassination of the King very shortly now", she spoke in a low voice, yet loud enough for Van to hear.  
  
"No Celena", the young king said, "I will not be a party to your throwing your life away no matter how much pain your heart may be in."  
  
At this point, Celena snapped. The persona that was once Dilandau was unleashed and she let it all out. 'Thank the Sea Dragon that Allen isn't hear to hear me now' was the last thing she thought before she let lose her verbal assault on the young king. "WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, FANEL!!!" she roared. "HOW DARE YOU THINK THAT YOU KNOW BETTER THAN I WHAT GOOD FOR ME! HAS THAT DAMNED CROWN OF YOURS GOTTEN TOO TIGHT AROUND YOUR HEAD YOU LITTLE SHIT! YOU COULDN'T POSSILBE IMAGINE MY PROBLEMS YOU FUCKING SON OF A WHORE!! I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW."  
  
#SMACK#  
  
It was a blow worthy of the former Dragonslayer captain himself. Van had backhanded Celena so hard that she nearing fell out of bed. Now it was Van's turn.  
"First", he said as he grabbed her collar, "my Mother was NEVER a whore. You may insult me all you like, but she is beyond reproach! Second, I know all too well the pain of having memories that you wish you could purge your mind of. Consider yourself lucky that your entire homeland was brought to its knees with anarchy within minutes of your coronation. I am both motivated and haunted by this. Third, how dare you try to solve your problems by running away." At this, Celena was visibly confused. At this Van elaborated as he released her collar. "Wanting to avoid your problems and heartache by embracing death is just another way of running from them. If you have such problems that death appears to be an option, face them so you can defeat them, damn you!"  
At this point, Celena was spent. She had allowed her eyes to well up since Van stuck her. Now, she let the dam break and all of her emotions flow freely. "Then you know what it's like to have your mind and dreams haunted by nightmare images every time you close your eyes. I do not even sleep anymore as much as I just collapse form exhaustion. I cannot even look in the mirror anymore without seeing my crimes. If I am not to be punished for my past deeds, and they are mine regardless of what form I took, how am I to ever find peace!" the hysterical girl sobbed.  
"Find ways to serve those that you have harmed by your actions with your time, talents, and treasure," he counseled. "If you cannot do so, then be of service to those around you."  
It was hours later when Allen arrived. Van told his old war comrade everything. At first, the Knight Calle was horrified. When Van told him why she'd done what she had, he was saddened almost to visible tears, while he was crying an ocean inside. Van simply put he hand on the older man's shoulder told him that he needed to find out how she serve those around her, preferably at home some she could be around comfortable surroundings. Afterwards, he took his sleeping sister home, having thanked his old friend once again and apologized for her actions. It would be days later before they would speak of the incident, Allen being the one who brought it up. "Celena", Allen said, "if your were to do something with you life, what would it be."  
At this, the young girl was dumbfounded for moment, first looking at her brother, then at the just cleared breakfast table. "For me to answer that, I'd first have to figure out what, if anything, I am good at", she stated.  
  
"Well", Allen replied, "if there was something you could think of off the cuff, what would it be?"  
  
It was a question that she could not answer, as she didn't know herself, as herself well enough to respond. At this point, Celena started on a personal quest of self-discovery to find out what interested her, and of those things, what she might be good at. However, while she did have some interest and talent in field medicine, even this was based on her experience as a solider. She was a warrior first and foremost; her years in Zaibach having ruined her for just about every other endeavor that came across her fancy. So she embraced what she was, and did so in an effort to serve her homeland and those around her. For while she felt in her mind that she would never live long enough to atone for all her sins, she would at least try. She knew that she couldn't go to the men of the Crusade with out arousing the suspicions of her brother, so she trained herself, her instructors being her memories as Dilandau and the books in her Father's study and the family library. After months of this, she set out to prove herself as a warrior to the Austrian crown its subjects.  
  
AN-Sorry for the vulgarity, but in this case, it was necessary. It, as I mention above, was Dilandau's persona talking, not Celena. However she wanted to drive a point home, and she decided to use her memories of Dilandau's experiences to her advantage for a change. Thus, Celena is a potty mouth both this chapter, as well as the upcoming Chapter 3.  
  
If Chapters 2 and 3 are substandard, it is only because I am without my wonderful editor # sob # as she lives it up on vacation overseas. # Sniff # Ah, the life of a world traveler. (j.k j/k)  
  
As always, read and review. 


	4. A New Dawn for a Tortured Soul

Chapter 3: A new dawn for a tortured soul.  
  
The recruiting table for the Austrian Royal Army at the bazaar in Palls was never very hard to find no matter how bustling any event it was. It was always the one place, more often than not, that was either deserted, or was surrounded by the kind of people that never ventured out at night unless they were on the run from the law somewhere in the world. It was a place for those who got tired of running and stealing their daily bread like rats to find a place to call home and make amends for the life they once led. With a reputation like that, it was no surprise that the recruiting Sargent looked the part as one for this kind of army. However, the one thing that would've grabbed the attention of those passing by the table on this particular day was the young woman who confidently approached it and its Sargent.  
It had been a long time since Sargent Komeron of the Austurian Royal Army had a good laugh due to the fact that he hadn't had much to laugh about in some time. The father of three sons, his wife had died giving birth to the last, his youngest had died fighting the Zaibach in some forsaken outpost in the swamps of the kingdom, the middle child had died of illness years ago, and the oldest had died in final battle the Gaian Destiny War. The only bright spot in his family life was that his oldest had made him a Grandfather before he died. As a result when those who knew him around the recruiting table he manned saw him smile, they knew it had to be something good. It was. Before the big, aging Sargent was a slender, beautiful young woman wearing Asgardian woman's pants, riding boots, a sword on her hip, and a lose fitting men's long sleeve shirt with a vest over it. Topping it all off was a cape over her shoulders that came down to her knees.  
  
"Looking to join the Knights Cali little miss?" Komeran snickered.  
  
"No" she stated, "nothing so lofty. At least not today, anyway." Everyone, including the young woman had a good-natured laugh at this. Then she straightened and said confidently, "Sargent, I wish to join the Royal Army. May I have your assistance?"  
At this, everyone around the table had a good hardy belly laugh at the young woman. This went on for a minute until she grabbed and turned over the table, grabbing the Sargent by the collar and saying, "You bloated, withered bag of shit! How dare you write me off before I have even the chance to prove myself! I challenge you to a duel of first blood to prove my worth and earn my place amongst you!" At this point, no one was laughing. The young woman had released the cape around her shoulders and backed away quickly enough to get out of Komeran's way while he drew his sword. She had her sword out at the same time he had his. "Franso!" he barked, "you officiate this farce! First blood, as she said!" The match started off like lightning. The old solider had experience and strength as his side, but the young woman had skill, speed and finesse at hers. In a minute, she had drawn first blood on the Sargent. With the  
match over, one of Komeran's comrades said "pure luck" loud enough for her to hear. The silver-blonde  
haired beauty simply pointed her sword at him and said, "You're next!" This continued until all ten of Sargent Komeran's men were defeated. Finally, the young silver-blonde haired beauty stared at the old solider and said, "Now, as I had said before Sargent, I wish to join the Royal Armed Forces. May I have your assistance?"  
  
At this the dejected old man looked at her and said, "No matter how good you are at a sword, the Army is still no place for you. Go home little girl."  
  
"Coward!" she spat. "Even though you've been bested by your better, you still deny me? Are you so weak and impotent a man that you cannot stand a little honest humility? How dare you call yourself a solider in my homeland's army? You are so without Honor that you are probably little more than a murder playing solider."  
At this, the old man's patience finally snapped and he drew his sword again. "You desire a real fight, little bitch? I'll give you one damn you!" This time, he meant to kill the young woman.  
"That will be quite enough from the both of you", a voice had said from behind. When all that heard it turned to see whom and where the voice had come from, they found themselves looking at their Monarch, the newly crowned Queen Eries. All warriors had bowed on one knee before her respectfully, as had been they're training, including Celena who had seen herself as a warrior as well. "You men get back to your posts. Lady Celena, rise and walk with me please." Pausing long enough to grab her cape, Celena Schezar joined her Queen in a stroll and conversation down the streets of Palls, the Monarch's entourage trailing behind.  
  
"That was quite a demonstration at the table Lady Celena, although I don't think that your brother would approve" the young Queen said.  
  
"May I speak freely with you Your Highness?" Celena asked.  
  
"By all means", Queen Eries replied.  
  
"You know who I was once was don't you? You know I was once a monster, a murderer of men and a burner of the homes of women and children, correct?"  
  
"I know. I saw you change in front of your Mother's grave. Your brother was there with me."  
  
"Your Highness, have you ever been so haunted by your memories that you don't sleep as much as you collapse from exhaustion from the lack there of?" the young Schezar said.  
  
At this, Celena recounted the events of the past few months that brought her to Sargent Komeran's table this very day. At first, Queen Eries was shocked at the young woman's confession. At the end, however, she agreed with King Van's counsel and deduced that the only way Celena thought she could serve those around her was as a warrior. At this, Eries made the following suggestion, "What if you were given the opportunity to become a swordswoman in my armed forces?"  
  
"What must I do Your Grace?" Celena said bowing on one knee.  
  
"If you complete the needed training", she continued, "you may join. I may even allow you to become a Knight if you excel as your brother has."  
  
With this, Queen Eries escorted Celena to the recruiting table and told the old Sargent, "I believe that this young woman wishes to join my armed forces. Do be a good man and assist her."  
  
At this, Sargent Komeran nearly had a heart attack.  
  
When Allen found out that his little sister, who'd been missing for weeks, was in the midst of training to become a knight like himself, he'd nearly had a heart attack of his own. At first, he had tried to convince her to give up this pursuit and rejoin him back home. To say it was a useless effort was an understatement. It was Gaddes who finally convinced Allen to let Celena follow through with what she started. It was one of the things that attracted him to her after she'd found out. To almost everyone's surprise, and exhausted yet triumphant Celena emerged from training having earned her knighthood and was presented her sword by a then pregnant Queen Eries herself with Sir Allen, beaming with pride, at the young Queen's side. After the ceremony, Eries had pulled Sir Celena aside and remarked that if one daughter of Austria were capable of gaining a knighthood, how many more would make, at least able warriors. With Sir Allen's, and much to everyone's surprise, Sargent Komeran's help, Sir Celena had trained and assembled a 200 woman force of Austrian amazons capable of handling any threat the to kingdom that the men could. Eager to prove that her girls were just as tough as any male unit, Celena requested that then be stationed at the newly built Fortress Tormenta Pass, overlooking and protecting a newly found trade route into the Kingdom that would keep post-war Austria prosperous, but was in a mountainous area which was battered by winds and rough weather. As her brother did before her, she rolled up her sleeves and shared the same burdens as her girls did, proving that the title and upbringing didn't make her any more important than anyone else who fought and bled for their homeland.  
At the end of his musings, Gaddes gave back the book of poems to the woman he loved, gazing into her eyes all the while. They continued talking of the things that they had planned for the near future, and for the future they were planning together. Their relationship, while pure and chaste, was still a secret. Allen Schezar may have trusted Gaddes with his life, but the love and future of his little sister, not to mention the only family he had left was another matter all together. Until then they had a type of courtly love that only two warriors who knew the hardships of battle and combat as well as love and respect could share. One day they would let the world know but util then, they had to wait until the next supply run was scheduled. Fortunately, the Fortress needed frequent minor repairs.  
  
AN - At this point Gaddes still doesn't know about who Prince Chid's real father is. 


	5. The Hearts and Souls of Lovers and Warri...

Chapter 4: The Hearts and Souls of Lovers and Warriors, Part I  
  
Standard disclaimer: I don't own the "Vision of Escaflowne" TV series. Please don't sue me!  
  
Amano Susumu was could not possibly be any more happy and content with his life than he was right now as he drove up the off ramp away from downtown Tokyo. He shifted gears on his Mazda MX-5, a gift from his financially well off future father-in-law, as he sped away from the city, the top down on this bright and beautiful October day. He couldn't help but muse at his life in the passed few years since that strange day.  
  
"I hope that Hitomi got the message we sent her via e-mail" the young woman snuggling against him complained. "It would be right for her not to be there, seeing as how we wouldn't be together without her and all."  
  
Amano nodded in agreement. Shortly before he left for the U.S. as an exchange student, Hitomi Kanzaki, one of his closest female friends and track teammate, had disappeared under the damnedest set of events he or anyone else could've go through. To this day, his mind could not wrap itself around the fact that 3 ½ years ago, both a lightly armored young swordsman and a dragon of all things, appeared in front of him, Hitomi, and the young woman that would become his beloved fiancée, Yukari Uchida. After a brief chase and fight, the swordsman killed the dragon and both the he and Hitomi were swept up in a pillar of blue light. A couple of months later, she came back safe and sound. At least physically that was. Emotionally, she seemed sad and hollow inside, like something or someone had carved a piece of her soul and kept it as a souvenir. He didn't know what to think. He feared that one of his closest friends might have been tortured, molested or even raped, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do but see her looking cheery on the outside, but emotionally wounded on the inside.  
His fears were put to rest when Hitomi made an almost frantic attempt to play matchmaker for him and Yukari. Little did she know that he already had feelings for the track team's manager, the only problem being that Yukari, normally outgoing, vibrant, and full of life and fun, was painfully shy when it came to her feelings, and he was afraid of scaring off the young woman by moving too fast. To make matters worse his trip to America was right around the corner and he wanted to make his feelings be known to Yukari before he left. It was Hitomi who saved the day by fixing them up on an impromptu date by inviting them to a day in the park before he left only to leave the two of them most of the day to have some private time together. Yukari later told him that before she did, Hitomi told Yukari that she knew of her felling for Amano and that she should let him know before he left. What followed Yukari's tearful and heartfelt declaration of her love for Amano and his grateful acceptance there of. They remained in contact with each other via e-mail, letters, and the occasional mp3 CD-ROM of her and home recorded via digital video camera. When he came back after his senior year in America, he'd been accepted into college on a full-ride track team scholarship and was even training with the Japanese Olympic Track Team as a possible alternate. Finally, Yukari had graduated from high school and after 3 years of love and devotion to her, he proposed. She happily and tearfully accepted, with their wedding planned for the summer after his graduation from college.  
'I don't know why people make such a big deal out of marriage like it's something to be afraid of?' he thought. He then looked down at his lovely future bride as he drove while she snuggled against his arm. 'I Love Yukari and want to spend the rest of my life with her and raise whatever kids we have together', his thoughts continued, this time with a slight blush. 'I guess friends can be lovers, and much, much more.'  
Unfortunately, in his "stroll down memory lane" as his American friends would put it, he forgot to pay attention to how fast he was going. By the time he realized he was going a bit too far over the speed limit, the lights and siren of a Tokyo Metro Highway Patrol motorbike was in his rear view mirror. He could only groan in annoyance at his own carelessness as he pulled to side of the road.  
  
"Amano-chan, what's going on?" his half-asleep wife-to-be said, blinking at him.  
  
"Nothing love. Your baka fiancée is finding out one way that memories can screw you over", he replied, irritated at himself.  
  
"Nani?" Yukari asked.  
  
He looked in his side view mirror and saw the Highway cop, a young woman he quickly realized, and athletic at that. He also noticed that she had honey blonde hair that went down to the bottom of her shoulder blades and was done up in a ponytail. As she strode up to his door, and waited for what ever came next.  
  
"License and Registra." a strangely familiar voice said. "You've GOT to be kidding me?" she continued.  
  
As he looked up, he saw that the officer had removed her mirrored sunglasses and revealed a pair of large, bright, beautiful emerald green eyes. He was looking at the face of a woman he hadn't seen in months, not since he announced his engagement to Yukari, the same woman who made his same engagement possible. His close friend and former track teammate, Hitomi Kanzaki, wearing the uniform of the Tokyo Metro Highway Patrol helmet, boots, and all.  
  
"HITOMI-CHAN!!!" Yukari gleefully squealed, looking over at her best friend and the sister she never had. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you for months! I just sent you and e-mail telling you that I'd picked a wedding date and that I need to get you fitted for your dress. You are the Maid-of- Honor after all!"  
  
Hitomi could only manage a somewhat forced smile, her left eyebrow twitching. She didn't need to say anything; the look on her pretty face said it all. 'Of all the people in the whole of the Tokyo Metro area who just had to be speeding,' she thought ruefully to herself, 'why in the name of all the Kami did I have pull over THEM!?!'  
  
Authors notes: The Mazda MX-5 is sold in North America as the Miata, (for those of you who aren't car buffs).  
  
The reference to "the Kami" is in reference to the gods of the Shinto pantheon. No one to my knowledge has been able to determine what Hitomi's religious beliefs are. Since the majority of Japanese are members of the Shinto faith, I've decided to make her one as well. 


	6. The Hearts and Souls of Lovers and Warri...

Chapter 5: The Hearts and Souls of Lovers and Warriors, Part II  
  
Standard disclaimer: I don't own Vision of Escaflowne.  
  
Before I go any further, I want this to be the first of many chapters that I want to dedicate to my writing mentor, friend, guide, and inspiration, celle1. To find out more got to: . Don't forget to say hi as well. :D  
  
King Van Salzaar de Fanel, King of all Fanelia, stood at his usually place in the conference room of the Royal palace, gazing out of the center window and upon the width and breadth of his homeland and kingdom's capital. It was much bigger than it was that faithful day of the attack the day that he began his adventure with the young woman whose spirit, courage, and heart had haunted his dreams since the day she left.  
  
"Ministers, report," he said with a tone in his voice that was full of the confidence that a leader should have without sounding like a tyrant.  
  
Minister de Guston, Minister of Commerce, spoke first. "Milord, we have good news from Goau and Fortuna ports. Only six months after they've opened, the goods coming directly from ports of the surrounding countries has almost exceeded their abilities to take them all in. Perhaps we should've built them bigger than we had after all," He continued.  
  
"And as I had said numerous times before," he added, "to do so would risk flooding the Fanelian markets with goods that might drive the local small factories out of business. We haven't recovered enough from the war to allow the same kind of openness of trade that Austuria enjoys. One day perhaps, but not yet," he finished.  
  
It was part of his post war economic recovery plan. The war had engulfed almost every country on the continent and as a result was going through the same post war process of rebuilding, with Fanelia's being much, much worse than the others had been. Only Austuria had offered any substantial assistance, and only after the death of King Aston. In order to pay for what was needed for immediate reconstruction, he looked at a silver lining in the very dark cloud that was the war. Many of the refugees that fled the capital did so through a pass in the mountains behind the capital, the opening of which was revealed as a result of the Dragonslayers attack. This pass, now known as the Exodus pass, led to the coastline, which had been accessible only via dangerous, narrow paths over the mountains. An adjacent pass, the Regressar Pass, which was not too far from the first, and blocked only by a few feet of granite, was chiseled away shortly after the war. Both led to the newly built King Goau and Fortuna ports. King Van knew that the import tariffs from these two ports would allow Fanelia to buy what it's neighbors couldn't, or wouldn't loan. However, he knew that if the tariffs were too high, his kingdom's neighbors would complain and possibly impose sanctions against the struggling Kingdom. He also knew that local Fanelian businesses might collapse under the weight of the import market. The solution was simple: build a pair of ports large enough to allow enough import goods that the resulting tariffs would assist in the reconstruction of Fanelia without being too high while at the same time being too small to allow a flood of imports. It, so far, proved to be a success.  
  
"Ah, yes. Perhaps someday," the minister sighed.  
  
"What say you, Galicia" Van continued.  
  
The head of the Ministry of Justice and Protection of Royal Subjects proudly stood and began his report to his Sovereign. "Sire, every town and village in the Kingdom has had no reports of crime from any of your subjects. There are of course the random pranks committed by the youths and the occasional drunken brawl, however these matters have been dealt with by my men as soon as they flare up." Minister de Galicia was originally a solider who had been badly wounded in a fierce bandit raid early in his career. Van's Father, King Goau, had seen the young military officer's prowess as an administrator and didn't want to lose his talents, thus he made arrangements to continue to serve the kingdom as a Sheriff in one of the larger farming towns. When Fanelia was being rebuilt, Van called upon him to lead those protecting the people from bandits in the Kingdom's weakened state. After the capital was rebuilt, he'd been called to lead Fanelia's lawmen. " There is the matter of several skirmishes in the woods along the borders we share with other kingdoms, but nothing out of the ordinary."  
  
King Van sighed. "How many did we lose this time", he said regretfully.  
  
"15 gave their lives to the Kingdom since my last report, Sire", Galicia responded with the mournful pride of a commander who lose men under him in battle.  
  
'I hope that gives their families and children solace when they find they'll never come home again', Van thought bitterly.  
  
"What about you Captain Merle", he said turning to a familiar face. "Any to report?"  
  
A Seventeen-year-old cat woman wearing a form fitting yet elegant and noble high collared uniform respectfully stood, as had the others to report to her King and the only family she had. "Lord Van", she called him as she had in the past, "other than the usual nonsense of people making empty death threats which they retract after my men find out those responsible and young women trying to gain entry into the palace to beg you to marry them", the latter statement making Van wince more than the former, "there isn't anything out of the ordinary within the kingdom's borders that could threaten you."  
  
Van could only look at his adopted sister and smile. It had been two years ago today since she'd earned the right to wear that uniform and a year since she'd become Captain of the Fanelian Palace Guards. Following the reclamation of the Fanelian Capital by his people, King Van's advisors convinced him to rebuild the Fanelian Palace Guards on the condition that they'd also be used as city constables until the actual constabulary was fully reformed per a city of the Capital's size. Volunteers from all over the small kingdom were recruited, including a then Fourteen year old cat- girl that had enlisted without Van's knowing. When he'd found out, he nearly had a fit.  
  
"What in Atlantis's name are you doing Merle?!?" he bellowed.  
  
"Making myself useful, for real this time, Van-sama," she simply replied, adjusting her new uniform.  
  
"What are you, taking about? You've always been a great asset, and a great friend. By the God's you're the only family I have left. I." he said, only to be cut off by her orange paw on his lips.  
  
"That's the problem, my Van-sama," she said plainly. "Everything I have is because of your good graces. I am tried of being a freeloader who has what she has only because Balgus found me when he did." She finished, by saying, "It's time I made my own way, and proved my worth in the world."  
  
Over the following year, she would more than prove her worth, protecting her King, discovering plots against him, and even getting wounded in the line of duty protecting him. As all warriors have in the past, Merle would earn every scar on her body. When the previous Captain of the Guard retired due to old age and illness, only the most bigoted against the beast peoples, was surprised by her promotion.  
  
"What about outside the kingdom's borders?" the young king mused.  
  
As Captain of the Guard, part of her job was discovering plots against King Van and following up leads to those plots before they were ever sprung. More important to King Van, however, was the means to make sure that another sneak attack by any of Fanelia's neighbors like the one that Zaibach had instrumented could ever be launched without his knowing. Thus the means to gather such intelligence became essential. Van's other ministers were lees than enthusiastic about "reading other gentlemen's mail" as the foreign minister put it. Thus, the role of Fanelia's "spymaster", to fell to the Captain of the Palace Guard, and thus, to Merle when she was promoted.  
  
"Well", she started, "I found something that could be nothing, but might be something."  
  
"Oh? Now you've made me the curious one my dear cat", Van said, earning a playfully annoyed smirk from him foster sister. "What have you discovered?"  
  
"Well", she said becoming properly serious, "there have been quite a bit of small yet noticeable purchases of iron ore from all over the continent, including Fanelia. By themselves they seem like nothing. However, when you add up the quantities purchased over the past several months, you can't help but be a little concerned that someone might have something up their sleeve."  
  
"What makes these purchases so out of the ordinary?" asked the Minister of Defense.  
  
"The grade of the ore is the same use to make guymelef armor", Merle stated. This made the air in the room suddenly very heavy. "My thoughts exactly", she added. "The purchases are always done by different people but in the same amount and in the same grade of ore. Alone, it looks like someone is just making something very strong, but not very big, out of metal. However, when you added them up, if I didn't know any better, I'd say someone was trying to make a sizable force of guymelefs. As unnerving as this all is, some of my people have also found out that the same people have been buying levistone powder."  
  
This last bit made everyone tense. After the War, it had been discovered that levistove powder, mixed with high grade iron ore, created an alloy that gave the Zaibach melefs flight capabilities. Unless she was wrong, Merle's spy ring had discovered a long planned effort of some sort or another to covertly build a large unit of flight capable gymelefs.  
  
"Minister Guston", Van said sternly, "I want you to give Captain Merle a detailed accounting of all iron ore exports paying particular attention to melef grade ore. Also, I want you to help her find out where these sales are going to. Give her what ever help she needs Guston."  
  
"Yes, your highness." Guston then nodded purposefully to Merle who in turn smiled to the older man.  
  
"Also", Van continued. "I want patrols around the capital and all towns in the kingdom increased, Galicia.  
  
"At once, milord" de Galicia replied.  
  
"Well de Galicia, I hope that our own melef force is as well maintained as always", Van said with a knowing grin to his Defense minister.  
  
"You know General de Aries all too well, sire" the older man replied. General Gustof Anton de Aries was Balgus last student before he began training King Van. Now in his 30s, the former Royal military officer was one of the few survivors of the Dragonslayer's attack on the Capital. Afterwards, he reassembled what was left of the Royal Fanelian Armed Forces in an attempt to guard the kingdom's shattered borders and help de Galicia protect the outlying farming towns in Fanelia's anarchy. It was like making a silk purse out of a sow's ear, and then being expected to make a matching dress when you were done. However, his meager efforts kept a catastrophic situation from being even worse and after the war he was praised by the people for what he did. A few even thought higher of de Aries for "standing and fighting at home instead of all over Gaia." The officer, who stood at 6'8" and was a mountain of solid muscle and bone, would hear none of it, and challenged anyone who spoke ill of his King to a duel to the death. As if Van's own skill with a sword was enough to make those who threatened the young king's position think twice, the prospect of going up against Commander de Aries was. Incredibly, he still believed he had failed his Kingdom, and offered to resign his commission due to his inability to do more and as the highest ranking surviving officer, felt responsible. Van, on the other hand would hear nothing of it, and made him a General and put him in charge of rebuilding the Kingdom's guymelef force, which was obliterated by the search and destroy missions launched by the Vionne's other guymelef squadrons.  
  
"Make sure that he disperses the melef units broad enough to cover as much ground as possible. I want nothing that crosses our boarders to get any farther than a quarter of a hectare inland", Van finished. Satisfied that he'd done everything he could think of, he closed his eyes and thought, '.and now, to the part of these meetings I've come to dread.'  
  
"Have you anything to report Clark?" Van asked, already dreading the answer. Foreign Relations Minister de Clark then stood and spoke. "Sire, I wish to report that relation with our allies and neighbors and allies are good, and if the reports from Captain Merle's men have nothing to add regarding their actions or behavior, then all is well. However." he continued.  
  
'By Atlantis, the willpower it will take if he mentions what I think he will.' Van thought.  
  
".some of the young noble ladies of Gaia, including the daughters of well placed people in the Zaibach Republic, have inquired about your desire to find a Queen?" the diplomat finished with a hint of oiliness in his voice.  
  
It was all Van could do to keep from spinning on the man and grabbing him by the collar. Every weekly meeting for over two Colors he brought up the issue of finding a future wife. At first, he discounted it an irritation in his duties to the Fanelian people. However, de Clark's requests of marriage from the noblewomen of Gaia became a constant reminder that he was without the seeress that stole his heart and that he communicated with only in his dreams.  
  
"Clark", Van continued in an irritated tone, "how many times have I mentioned that I will marry when I feel ready to devote myself to both Fanelia and a wife and family?" It was a half lie. The real reason Van had no intention of marrying anyone was the one woman he would marry was out of his reach, almost definitely forever.  
  
"Your Highness, what would happen to our Kingdom if, the Dragon forbid, something were to happen to you? No offense to Captain Merle or the palace healers, but if you were to leave us, we would be in a crisis of succession. With all due respect, Sire, the Kingdom needs you to marry to produce and heir" de Clark whined.  
  
"So is that all I am to you Clark?" Van said in a low dangerous tone. For the first time during the meeting, Van turned to face his ministers, and specifically, de Clark, glaring white hot daggers into the man with his dark intense reddish brown eyes. "Am I nothing more than a breeding stud for future Kings of Fanelia so you don't have to worry about the future of your career? Or is someone paying you to convince me to court them?" he continued.  
  
"I have only the best interest of the Kingdom in mind, milord", de Clark said with an oily, mildly offended tone.  
  
That was the last straw for the young King. He purposefully strode up to the old diplomat and former merchant and looked him right in the eye. "While you were living a life of semi-luxury in Egzardia trading women's pants to Austria, I was fighting to avenge us against those who had decimated our homeland while better men than you fought to pick up the pieces." This last part Van said while gesturing to de Galicia. "YOU, of ALL people, don't dare lecture ME on what is best for Fanelia!"  
  
After de Clark stuttered an apology to his King for assuming too much and slunk back into his chair, Van faced his ministers and asked if they had anything else to add. When they said no, he dismissed them and turned to face another set of windows opposite to the first he had been staring out of. Knowing where he was looking, Merle returned to Van's side after the others had left. She put her paw-hand on his shoulder and gave him a look that said, 'I understand and sympathize Van.' When she left, he came to the window that he had in mind after de Clark's nonsense. It overlooked the Royal gardens, called the Varie gardens after his mother, and a life- sized statue in the corner, one of a teenaged girl in a school uniform with a serene smile on her pretty face. In his melancholy, Van could only look at the image that faced him and sighed, "Hitomi."  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
First I apologize to my readers for delaying the release of this chapter. The character of Van Fanel is very special to my friend, editor and mentor, celle1, and because it provided your first glimpse of a post-War Van, I wanted it to be extra special as well. This is also why this chapter is so much longer than the others. I only hope it meets with my mentor in writing's approval.  
  
No, de Clark is NOT the bad guy in this story, just a stereotypical slimy politician. I do intend to redeem him if the opportunity to do so presents itself in this story.  
  
As for Merle, yes, she does have the body of Naria or Eriya, but with a slightly more mature version of the face we all know and love. ;)  
  
Don't worry; the action will be forthcoming in a few chapters from now, as well as other characters from various Esca sources, (ex. the only-released- in-Japan Esca video game).  
  
Finally, if you are reading this story, PLEASE review. I'm dying for feedback and celle1 is busy with plans for getting into Oxford University, (great big colossal round of applause for celle1 from everyone on ff.net). Help the both of us out by letting me know how I'm doing, (or how much I suck so I can get better at this whole fiction writing thing). 


End file.
